By Ben Philippe
YA novel
My Synopsis:
Teenaged Black French Canadian Norris Kaplan has to move to Austin Texas after his parents’ divorce. He hates everyone and everything until he kinda doesn’t maybe? Cheerleaders, jocks, romance, the whole high school shebang you see in every teen movie only without the lame-o soundtrack trying to make you sing along. (Or vomit)
Why I picked up this book:
Continue reading “The Field Guide to the North American Teenager”
By Cynthia Kadohata.
A book review and commentary.
This young adult story takes place in 1975 in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. I wanted to read it because I have a fascination with history and untold truths and because I highly admire elephants. While I did enjoy the story, I couldn’t help wonder about it being categorized as young adult. The tale is told from a 13-year-old’s perspective, but it is in wartime with unsettling truths and hardships. This book not only tells an interesting story of a young Vietnamese dealing with war in his village but also stirs up other questions about how we educate and broaden the minds of our children. Continue reading “A Million Shades of Gray”
I attended my very first SCBWI event this past weekend. It was MG/YA Day in Lancaster PA. Guest speakers included editor Rick Chillot of Quirk Books, agent Zoe Sandler of ICM Partners, middle-grade author Jennie K. Brown and young adult author Abbey Nash.
I will be honest with you; I don’t know why I went. This was an event put together by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. (SCBWI) It was designed specifically to help Middle-Grade authors and Young Adult authors. (hence MG/YA Day) I can remember not knowing those abbreviations once upon a time. So I know I’ve come a long way from the 2nd-grade student who liked to write stories, on the other hand, am I worthy of being among those in that “society”? Was there going to be a secret handshake? Continue reading “Secret Society of Writers”
by Richard Peck
When I think back on this book it is very much like thinking on old friends. Such an incredible book that it absolutely has to be on my list of the three most influential books from my childhood. Previously I wrote about Prince Ombra and Out of the Bug Jar. They were both fairly innocent introductions to the world of fantasy and adventures, but nothing could have prepared me for the experience I had while reading Richard Peck’s book, which is not a fantasy at all. It is a drama for young adults, which seems very boring and certainly not anything I was interested in at the time. Continue reading “Remembering the Good Times”
by Roderick MacLeish
In my previous post, I discussed one of three books that influenced me as a child. This book, “Prince Ombra” is the second. While the hero is a child, the enemy is unclear throughout the majority of the story. There is no one thing or person to defeat, just an ever-present evil that consumes the world if not fought back once every thousand years. When it comes, it challenges a single “hero” and does so by taking the form of the hero’s worse fear. This time, the hero is just a child named Bentley. That is probably the reason I initially picked up this book on my regular library visit that afternoon: great big evil vs 9-year-old child. We were allowed to check out 3-5 books each visit. I was probably not reading that much, I simply liked to pick out five so if I didn’t like one I had others to choose from. Turned out I really like “Prince Ombra”. Continue reading “Prince Ombra”
INGRID E FABER 